Bed rail maintenance

Incident investigations have revealed that incidents with bed rails have occurred due to poor or no maintenance. Bed rails must be included in planned preventative maintenance checks and schemes. Maintenance of bed rails should follow manufacturers’ recommendations. These can usually be found in the instructions for using the bed rail.

Formal maintenance checks must include the following items. You will also need to look out for these on a regular ongoing basis. You should immediately report any health, safety or maintenance issues:

• -If there is any rust.
• -That welded joints are secure showing no cracks or breaks.
• -For flaking or peeling of chrome.
• -If wooden rails have cracks.
• -For loose fixings or gaps in joints that should not exist.
• -For stripped threads on clamps.
• -If there are dented or distorted parts.
• -For damage to plastic parts.
• -For missing locks, fixings or parts.

This is an example of loose fixings.

Bed rails found to be unsuitable or in poor condition should be withdrawn from use and appropriately destroyed. 

They should not be kept or stored as they may find their way back into use.